They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot

Well, after a long cold winter, my thoughts turned back to past Spring baseball seasons when I would run out of work and head over to the well manicure Little League fields behind Ward Melville High School. 

The Three Village Little League was the place where my son, and many others, first played organized baseball.  As an assistant coach on his teams for many of the years, I have fond memories–the thrill of winning, the agony of defeat, the thousand Gatorades, the concession hot dogs, the opening day parade, and the great baseball field right by the concession stand!    

There were a few fields, but the one by the concession stand was the place where all the kids wanted to play, the best of the bunch. It is the place where my son and his team won a championship and jumped all over each other on the mound, the place where he threw a no hitter (and lost due to errors and walks 2-0! LOL!), where future Met's draft pick Steve Matz was a teammate, where dads speculated about futures and hob knobbed with the "team owners," AKA the sponsors ! 

Years later, here we are, and I decided to drive in and relax and watch the latest "future all stars."

As I drove in, on a day that would be typically a busy Little League morning, it was eerily quiet- no kids yelling, no ping off the aluminum bats, no coaches hustling from their car with a scorebook and lineup and something else: no field! 

Yes, the "other" fields were still there, but THE field, the BEST field by the concession stand was gone, paved over, half filled with cars, and parents, that were walking over to watch their kids play lacrosse.

I drove through the parking lot over what once was first base, then through the outfield , then along the area that the volunteers used to patiently chalk mark as home plate. Now the only markings were for cars and vans.

I thought of all the great times I spent here woth my son and instantly my head filled with all the smells and sounds of a day from the past

Bummer... They really can pave paradise! Downer. I drove out slowly... Chapter closed... 

I went home and turned on the Mets. They are in Houston–Houston is playing in a fairly new baseball stadium- opened in 2000. I hear they  are still deciding on the fate of the Astro's old home the Astrodome, which was billed as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" back in the day. Today it is old, empty, and musty.

Folks are trying to decide the fate of the old Astrodome, no longer a wonder, just an eyesore. I suppose they could park a lot of cars there if they paved it. 

I am saddened sometimes with the passage of time, but such is life. I am thankful though that no one can pour ashalt over the many great memories we had on the little league fields several years ago.